Cleaner.



F. M. CASE.

CLEANER.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 26. 1910.

1 147 307, Patented July 20, 1915.

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CLEANER.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT.26. 19w.

1 14K307 Patented July 20, 1915.

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Q-XX

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, FRANCIS M. Cast a citizen of the United States,residing at Cleveland, in the county of Cuyahoga and State of Ohio, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Cleaners, of

which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to apparatus for" cleaning surfaces andsurface-coverings generally, and is designed to brush and vibrate thecovering and at the same timedraw all dirt and dust, liberated by thebrushing and vibrating action, into the machine and discharge it into asuitable receptacle.

More specifically the invention contemplates an apparatus comprising acasing having a suitable discharge and discharge receptacle, a hoodhaving an unobstructed inlet opening or mouth whereby the surfacecovering may be suspended against the entire mouth, together with abrush mounted in the hood above the inlet opening, and means forcreating a sufficient suction at the inlet opening whereby thesurface-covering is drawn tightly against the edge of the hood about theinlet opening or mouth in a manner such that the brush may vibrate andbrush the cover to loosen or free the dirt and dust which is conveyed bytheair passing through the covering into the casing and discharged intothe discharge receptacle, from whence it may be emptied after theremoval of the discharge receptacle from the device.

Invention further resides in certain details of construction hereinafterset forth in the following description, drawings and claim.

Referring to the drawings, Figure 1 is a side elevation of the device;Fig. 2 is a longitudinal vertical section partly in elevation; Fig. 3 isaobottom plan view; Fig. 4 is a section through the hood showing thebrush partly in elevation and partly in section; Fig. 5 is a detail viewof the clamping ring for holding the discharge bag or receptacle inplace; Fig. 6 is a detail view of the supporting block for .the shaft ofthe brush; Fig. 7 is a sectional view showing the mounting of thesupporting wheels; Fig. 8 is an elevation of a portion of the handlesocket; Fig. 9 is a detail View partly in section showing the clampingscrew and arrangement of securing the handle in the socket.

In carrying out my invention any preferred form and construction ofparts may be employed so long as they possess the neo- Speclflc'ation ofLetters Fatent. I Patented July ave shown one constructlon .1n thedrawmgswhich 1s highly effective in operatlon, and m such embodiment 1represents the main casing in the form of a fan scroll .with' an openingfor the fan, to be described,-and provided with a suitable dischargemember 2 having a short cylindrical; portion 3' having a stop flange 4upon its exterior against which a suitable ring 71 of :a dischargereceptacle, to be disclosed later, is held .by mechanism to bedescribed. The casing 1 is further provided with an opening 5-in its topfor receiving a supporting ring 6 upon whicha motor 7 is mounted f Thisvmotor has its shaft 8 arranged vertically, and it projects into thecasing and 'throughf an inlet opening 9 at the bottom, asshownin Fig.2.Mounted upon the shaft 8 is a 'fanhub-lo of a fan disk 11 provided withblades 12 arranged in a manner such that they will draw air through ithe opening 9 and discharge the same through the discharge member 2. Thefan hub 10 is provided near its lower end with a pulley groove 10 for apurpose to be described.

The opening 9 communicates with -the I opening of an auxiliary hollowcasing member 13 tom of the main casing and broadening out toward theforward end of the main casing Where it emerges into a hood 14: providedwith a longitudinal mouth or inlet opening 15 in the bottom. Theauxiliary casing 13 is closed except for the opening 15 and anotheropening 16 just below the motor shaft and this opening is closed by asuitable hand-hold plate 17 provided with a flange 18 and held in placeby a suitable latching spring 19 which passes through recesses 20, shownin Fig. 3, and above the inner surface of the bottom portion of theauxiliary casing member. The auxiliary casing 13 is still furtherprovided with recesses 21, one on each side, andeach receiving asupporting wheel 22 mounted upon a bearing sleeve 23 carried by a plate24 having a lug 25 for engagement with a vertically disposed slot 26 inthe side of the auxiliary casing. A- suitable bolt 27 passes through theslot and is threaded into the bearing sleeve 23 whereby the supportingwheels 22 may be held in any adjusted position in the slot 26. Theobject of the adjustment of these wheels is face operated upon.

projecting-downward from the bot- Application filed September as, 1910.Serial No. 583,854 I EH1 essary characteristics,

The main casing 1 is still further provided with suitable casters 28secured to the underside of the same and to the rear of the auXiliarycasing 13 as it projects below the main casing at the rear. Theserollers support the rear end of the device.

The support of the casing upon the casters 28 and the supporting wheels22 and the adjustment of the latter is such that when cleaning asurface, at which time the mouth of the suction hood should be close tothe surface, or when cleaning a carpet, rug or other surface-covering,when the mouth of the suction hood should be raised above the covering,the plane of the walls of the hood about the mouth of the suction hoodis substantially in parallelism with the surface so that there ispractically an even suction on all parts of the portion operated upon,thus insuring perfect work.

In order that dust and dirt may be loosened or brushed from the surfaceto be treated a suitable brush is provided, and it comprises a bodyportion 29 having mounted thereon in any suitable manner bristles 30.This body portion 29 isprovided with an opening 31 extending from oneend to the other and with an enlarged portion 32 at each end. Each ofsuch portions is recessed at 33 on the end whereby a bearing bushing 34,driven or otherwise secured into the opening 31 at each end of the bodyportion, may project beyond into the recess, as shown in Fig. 4. Thesebushings have theirbear ing upon a shaft 35 which passes through theopening 31 and through suitable plate members 36, each provided with arecess 37 for receiving the corresponding enlarged portions 32 of thebody portion. The shaft 35 at each end of the hood passes through ablock 38 mounted in a slot 39 at each end of the hood 14. Each of theseblocks 38 is provided with a pin 40 for engagement in a recess 41arranged above the end of the slot 39 in each end of the hood, and witha flange 38 engaging the outer face of the end of the hood about theslot. A suitable washer 42 and nut 43 on each end of the shaft serve asa means for clamping the several parts in place and holding the brush inproper position. The body portion of the J brush is still furtherprovided with a pulley K 44 at a point such that a belt 44' engaging inthe pulley groove 8 and passing over the pulley 44 may drive the brush.

In order to manipulate the sweeper suitable handle mechanism isprovided, and it comprises a pair of clips 45 secured on opposite sidesof the motor and each carryin a pin 46 extending through a suitable eye47 at the end of each of the side members of a fork 48. This fork 48 isintegral with a handle socket 49 which is provided with a. downwardlyextending member 50 provided with an open-ended slot 51 forming ears 52ammo-7 in which a pin 53 is mounted. This pin is for a purpose to bedescribed. The socket member 49 is further provided with alongitudinally disposed slot 54 communicating with a spirally arrangedslot 55 extending to an opening 56 having beveled edges for receiving atapered portion 57 of a nut 58 mounted upon the threaded shank of a bolt59 passin through a sleeve 60 about a handle 61. Then the nut 58 isturned so that its tapered portion 57 is out of engagement with theinclined edges of the socket memher and the handle is to be removed fromthe socket, this operation is accomplished by turning the handle to theright or in the direction of the spiral slot 55 until the shank of thebolt reaches the longitudinal slot 54 when the handle may be ulled fromthe socket. The handle may be applied in a well known manner from theabove description.

The downwardly projecting member 50 is a part of a connection betweenthe handle and the discharge member, and this mechanism is for thepurpose of arranging the handle so that by pressing down upon the same,the forward end of the sweeper may be raised above slight obstructionswhich must be passed over in operating the device, and this mechanismcomprises a toggle link 62 pivotally mounted in suitable ears 63 forminga part of the discharge member 2 and pivotally connected to a relativelylong link 64 having at its upper end a hook portion 65 adapted forengaging the pin 53. This hook has a projection 66 extending from theouter end of the hook and engaging an arc-shaped surface 67 at thebottom ice of the slot 51 whereby the hook is held upon the pin 53,except when the toggle links are thrown upward, or into a positionopposite to that shown in Fig. 2, when the projection 66 will extend .tothe left of the surface 67 and the hook may be removed from the in 53when the handle will be released, but -1 when the toggle links are inthe position shown in Fig. 2 the front end of the device may be raisedby bearing down upon the handle when the joint of the toggles willengage the discharge member 2, and the forh ward end of the sweeper issusceptible of being raised. A suitable cord (not shown) containingelectrical conductors is attached to the device and the supply ofcurrent is controlled by a switch 68 mounted upon the main casing.

A discharge receptacle is provided for the device, and it comprises abag 69 havin a suitable mouth provided with a reinforcing ring or rim 70which fits nicely over the discharge member and against the flange 4 andit is held in this position by a ring 71 provided with diametricallyopposed slotted projections 72 adapted to receive bolts 73 mounted incars 74 on the discharge memher and havin u on their outer ends suitablenuts 75, t e olts and the nuts servin by their engagement with the ring71 to hol the discharge receptacle in place.

In order to prevent the carpet or other surface-covering from beingdrawn into the hood and bearmg with too great a force against thebristles of the brush, a suitable guard is provided and it comprises abar 78, shown in Fig. 2, secured in the front of the hood in anypreferred manner and provided with fingers 79 which extend across themouth of the hood and rest upon the opposite edge of the casing. Thesefingers bear against the carpet or other coverin and prevent it frombeing ,drawn too tightly against the brush.

Having described my invention, I claim In a cleaner for surfacecoverings, a main casing, supporting means therefor, an overhangingsuction hood carried by the casing and in open communication therewithand extending freely beyond the same andthe supporting means, said hoodhavin a mouth on its un erside adjacent to the out and having acontinuous edge about the mouth in a horizontal plane in parallelismwith the surface covered and at a distance therefrom, means for creatinga suction within the main casin and hood, and a brush mounted in saidood, said brush comprising a body portion and bristles, the body portionbeing mounted sufiiciently above the mouth of the hood so that thesuction may draw the surface covering thereagainst to completely closethe same.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature in presence of two witnessesas follows.

FRANCIS M. CASE. Witnesses:

ALTON H. Bums, C. H. Tnnscn.

